An Old Memory

It’s funny what connections one’s mind makes. The announcement of Fernando Valenzuela’s death brought about a memory for me. Not of him pitching. I was too young for that. My parents were still 10 years from even meeting when Fernandomania engrossed the nation. It started when Jeff Passan tweeted his first 8 starts, which almost singlehandedly gave him both the Rookie of the Year and Cy Young in 1981 (He had a 3.66 ERA in his next 17 starts).

Largely unprecedented. At least for such a previously unknown player in his first taste of the major leagues. The closest parallel in Cardinals history - recent history anyway - is Jason Simontacchi. (Shoutout to ebo for invoking his name). Simontacchi was a completely unknown non-prospect who for his first 7 starts, had a 2.45 ERA, going 5-0 while averaging 6.3 innings per start.

Now, they are obviously not comparable. Simontacchi did not grip the nation and didn’t even grip Cardinal nation in a remotely comparable way. Valenzuela was pre-serious prospect analysis and would almost certainly been a highly regarded prospect had he come later. He was a 20-year-old who basically spent one year in the minors and jumped straight to the majors. He would not have come out of nowhere if it were 2024 or even 2004.

Simontacchi would come out of nowhere in any time period. He was never at any point a prospect. He was a 21st round pick as a college senior and barely made it a year with the Royals before he was released, because he had a 6.97 in Low A. He spent the 1998 season in independent ball, and he was able to pitch well enough to get signed by the Pirates. Who stocked him in Low A as a 25-year-old. Clearly depth, he was released at the end of the year.

He then went over to Italy and had a 1.17 ERA over there, played in the Sydney Olympics and had a 1.17 ERA in 15.1 innings. The Twins signed him and put him in AAA. He wasn’t very good. He was granted free agency at the end of the 2001 season and signed with the Cardinals in 2002. He was 28. He made 6 excellent starts in Memphis and then was promoted to the big league club. This is an arc that probably doesn’t happen in 2024.

The other big difference is that Valenzuela was actually good. Simontacchi was probably not. He had a 2.45 ERA but a 4.33 FIP. In three of his seven starts, he had more walks than strikeouts. He was probably very lucky to have allowed only four homers in this span considering he didn’t have a high groundball rate and he gave up 18 homers in his next 17 starts. In his next 17 starts, he had a 4.71 ERA and 5.08 FIP.

Because it was 2002 going into 2003, he started the year in the rotation next year and oddly enough he actually struck out more, walked less and got more groundballs, but got waaay worse results. He ended up getting moved to the bullpen, and he spent most of the 2004 season in the minors. He suffered a torn labrum, was released, and missed the entire 2005 season. He actually found his way back to the big leagues for 13 starts for the pitching-starved Nationals in 2007, and those did not go well, but he did get an MLB paycheck for half a season. Many professionals would love his career.

Remembering Simontacchi is what brought about an old memory of my own. Let’s make our way back to 2004. When I was a kid, I played on a youth baseball team coached by my dad and we were pretty good. Not the best, but we won more than we lost. And we actually had at least a couple years where we were one of the best.

For a few years, as a team, we traveled to Memphis to watch the Redbirds and in 2004, and I’ll explain why I know it’s 2004 later, we got to go on the baseball field and stand next to a player. You know how sometimes kids run out with the players and then get an autograph? Well that was our team. I do not know who I stood next to. I suspect if it were a cool name, I would have remembered. The top five hitters in plate appearances in Memphis that year were John Gall, Scott Seabol, Chris Prieto, Kevin Witt, and Bo Hart. I don’t think it was Bo Hart. You have to go through an additional five names before you get to John Mabry, who only had 160 PAs.

But I have a very distinct memory of that day and it’s oddly enough my dad having a long conversation with Jason Simontacchi. Don’t remember where I went on the field nor what player I stood next to, but I remember my dad talking to Jason Simontacchi. I wanted more information, so I asked my dad. He said he talked to him for 20 minutes. Long conversation indeed.

I asked a natural follow-up: what did you talk about? He said random things, apparently they had briefly met at a float trip the previous year. Simontacchi did mention to watch out for the next big thing.... Brad Thompson. Yeah Brad Thompson. I certainly do not remember this but some of you might, but Brad Thompson broke a record in 2004. A 97-year-old record. He hurled 57 consecutive scoreless innings in AA for the Cardinals.

Still stands today as the minor league record. Thompson must have gotten hurt at some point, because he only ended up throwing 87 innings that year. There was another reason I knew it was 2004 though. And I knew it before I found out Brad Thompson was the hot new thing due to his scoreless streak. You see I have kind of an awesome picture from that day. Tell me if you recognize anybody.

I think I took a photo of that photo back in 2009 and uploaded it to my FaceBook (which I have legitimately not used in 10 years), so that explains the quality. I don’t think I got to stand next to Wainwright on the mound - I remember that it was not on the mound - I honestly doubt he even pitched that day. But at some point, someone (my mom?) snapped a photo that had no real significance at the time.

This was 2004. Wainwright had been in the JD Drew trade, but I guarantee this photo wasn’t taken because Wainwright specifically was in the photo. I certainly wasn’t paying attention to the minors like that and I doubt my dad was either. To top things off, Wainwright had a very bad 2004 - he only made 12 starts and had a 5.37 ERA. He was ranked #49 by Baseball America for the 2004 season, but he dropped off the list after that.

It’s really funny to me that I have no memory of standing next to Adam Wainwright, but of my dad talking to Jason Simontacchi for a very long time. Simontacchi was probably an important name to me at the time. He had been in the major leagues. I knew who he was. I was the type of kid who learned how to read by looking at Cardinal media guides.

Even funnier (to me) is that my dad has zero memory of talking to Adam Wainwright. He is the guy in front of Wainwright and it sure looks like he’s in the middle of the conversation. He was shocked when I showed him the photo. Wainwright was not registered as important by either of us at that time, so it exited our minds and were it not for a photo, I would not even know I encountered Wainwright in Memphis 2004.

So there’s my convoluted humble brag of having photo evidence of meeting Adam Wainwright.